Kira Gafkjen of Fishers will graduate from program in May
AmeriCorps Week 2021 is March 7-13, an opportunity to recognize the service of the 270,000 Americans engaged in AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors programs annually. Despite the unprecedented challenges posed in 2020, dedicated citizens continue to help communities, serving those impacted by COVID-19, ensuring students stay on track to graduate, combatting hunger and homelessness, responding to natural disasters, fighting the opioid epidemic, helping seniors live independently, supporting veterans and military families, and much more.
Kira Gafkjen of Fishers is currently serving with the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), a 10-month, full-time AmeriCorps program. Founded in 1994, AmeriCorps NCCC strengthens communities and develops its young adult members into leaders.
AmeriCorps NCCC operates out of four campuses, which serve as regional administrative hubs and training facilities. These campuses, located in Sacramento, Calif., Aurora, Colo., Vinton, Iowa, and Vicksburg, Miss., train and deploy new classes of members several times each year. Gafkjen began her term of service on June 16, 2020, at the Southern Region campus in Vicksburg, Miss. and will graduate from the program on May 6, 2021.
Gafkjen is completing a series of different six- to 12-week-long service projects in different places across her assigned region as part of a five- to 12-person team. Projects support disaster relief, the environment, infrastructure improvement, energy conservation, and urban and rural development. More information about her specific service projects is available upon request.
As a Team Leader, Gafkjen is responsible for managing the daily activities of the members on their team. She serves as a role model, educator, safety manager, and liaison between the campus and project sponsor. She began her term of service with an additional month of training prior to member arrival.
Before joining the NCCC, Gafkjen attended Fishers High School and Canisius College, from which she graduated in May 2019 with a degree in Animal Behavior, Ecology & Conservation and Psychology. Gafkjen also served a previous term with AmeriCorps NCCC in Vicksburg, Miss.
“This will be my second term of national service,” Gafkjen said. “I really enjoyed my first year of NCCC as a member and wanted to continue helping communities and the environment while also developing my leadership skills by returning as a Team Leader. I am still determining my future plans and figured I can make an active difference in local communities while I do so. I have realized, especially after my first year of service, that there are so many areas and organizations that need support and I am grateful that I can offer that hand.”
The AmeriCorps NCCC program and its FEMA Corps unit engages up to 2,200 young Americans in a full-time, 10-month commitment to service each year. AmeriCorps NCCC members address critical needs related to natural and other disasters, infrastructure improvement, environmental stewardship and conservation, and urban and rural development. FEMA Corps members are solely dedicated to disaster preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery work.
About AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps, a federal agency, brings people together to tackle the country’s most pressing challenges, through national service and volunteering. AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers serve with organizations dedicated to the improvement of communities. AmeriCorps helps make service to others a cornerstone of our national culture. Learn more at AmeriCorps.gov.